


Here I Am

by TrishaCollins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 21:50:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13533246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishaCollins/pseuds/TrishaCollins
Summary: None of the Holt's are good at staying put, Sam has just been waiting for one of his children to find him.





	Here I Am

Sam Holt is well traveled, now – escaping one prison only to find work with anyone that would take him, keeping his face covered so his humanity didn’t give him away, 'lost' somewhere across the universe from where he had started. It amused him, in a way, that the lack of interest his captors had in him had taken him so very far. It had been a dim comfort at first. Knowing that Matt and Shiro had not been afforded the same protection, but bit by bit, things had improved. Matt had escaped first, and then Shiro. Shiro had found Voltron, Matt had found other, stranger allies. He was proud of them both. 

He kept every vid the coalition posted, knowing without a doubt that somehow his Katie had found her way to Voltron. 

Somehow, impossibly, his little Katie was out there kicking over the entire beehive.

He was proud of her, so very proud. He kept the vids close, near Matt’s newest wanted poster, next to every recording he had made of Shiro’s stay in Zarkon’s arena. 

Those things might not be much, but they were a connection he had to his past, even here. Even now. 

He knew, objectively, that if he tried to rush to his children, then the empire would fall upon him and he would be used against them. So he didn’t. He wove his codes into every transmission instead, little messages that only his children or his wife would understand. (They had tried to teach Shiro the basics of the code, but as zealous as he was he could only manage a few lines. Matt had gloated for weeks.)

Sam was very good at waiting, at keeping track of his children. From afar, sure, but he trusted them both. They were doing amazing things, just as he had always known they would. He might have found himself deep in occupied territory, but that did not mean by any stretch that he wasn’t listening, watching, and learning this new universe he had found himself tipped into. 

It might be horrifying in places, the threads worn and the darkness creeping in through the spaces, but it was still beautiful. 

He kept a running log for Colleen, just as he had promised. Flora and fauna samples when he could manage. A part of him wished she had come with him, so they could explore this universe together. 

But he knew that was foolish, and he was glad she was safe on Earth.

Though really, Katie was here, which meant that his wife might be as well.

He dreamed of finding his children, of holding them close and listening to them try to talk at the same time, stories tangling and running over each other, confused words ceasing to make sense. Of the laughter that would follow as they both tried to sort out who should talk first, both wanting the other to go, neither wanting to claim the first story. 

He had no doubt his children had found each other. They had always been like that. Where Matt was, Katie would soon appear. She would have found Matt, and Matt would have stayed close to her. They might not be safe, but he knew that they were needed.

He kept himself still, avoiding any reaction that might give away his interest.

“-Voltron.” Someone was muttering. “Swear it was in this system.”

“How’s the security up at the base?” The shop keeper asked, voice pitched low, head bobbing in that general direction. 

The city was not the best, the planet hosted one of Zarkon’s worst work camps. But there were plenty of engineers and technicians around as a result, and it meant work was easy to find. 

He shifted his torch and tried not to pay too close attention. 

“Combing the area, probably looking to take out the camp.” The smuggler muttered. “Tend to do that before they liberate a sector. We might be working with a difference currency tomorrow.”

The shop keeper snorted. “You think they have time to worry about changing currency? It will still be gac, just a different exchange rate.”

The smuggler rumbled something, but Sam was focused on the little pieces of the transponder he was putting together.

Voltron was close. Katie was close.

He kept working until he had finished his day, turning over his finished pieces to his current employer and making his slow way back to the cubby he had claimed as his own. Once there, he fished out the transponder he had cobbled together, tuning it until he had the nearest broadcast channel. Then, with a little bit of work, he overlaid his message into the broadcast, altering the stream.

After that, it was only a matter of waiting. 

 

***

Voltron landed in the early morning to the east of the city, the battle station a smoking ruin behind it. 

He wants to take a moment to admire the lion ships, but they break apart almost at once, the Green one zig zagging over the city to drop into one of the roads, head lowering to release its pilot. 

He watches, tense, ready, waiting and is rewarded by a very small figure bolting down, holding a device he is sure is some sort of signal tracker. 

He feels ….calm. Ready. The little cubby that has been his space for nearly a year is empty of anything personal, and the rubbish that remains can be salvaged by anyone else. What is important is hidden in his pockets and in pouches and in one small bag he has slung over his shoulder – what is really important is walking down the street towards him. 

Step by step, she comes closer, hands shaking as she stops close enough that the device bumps against his chest. 

She stands there like that, tracker pressed against his chest, eyes level with it, shoulders shaking like she is about to come apart. 

He lifts his hand, and he closes it carefully around her shoulder, and she finally looks up.

“Hello, Katie.” He murmurs, and like that the serious warrior vanishes, and the paladin is his little girl again, shrieking and throwing her arms around his neck, sobbing against his shoulder.

He closes his arms around her, squeezing until he can be sure she feels it through the armor, because he is here, finally, and she deserves that reassurance above all else.

**Author's Note:**

> Swear that the message read "Voltron, this is Sam Holt. Katie, bedtime hasn't changed." Because the Holt's are layers of sneaky.


End file.
